The rules here are the basic ones set-up for the World of Darkness games. For further information in this area, check either Advanced Combat, or check within one of the World of Darkness books.

INITIATIVE
In this stage characters roll the dice to see the order in which they will take their actions and to state which actions they will take. Characters make an initiative roll using their Wits + Alertness stats against a difficulty of 4. The character with the most successes acts first.

Example: Nat wants to attack Val. Nat's Wits are 2 and her Alertness 3, so she will roll 5 dice for init. Val will roll 5 dice as well. Nat rolls three successes against the difficulty of 4, and Val rolls one. Nat wins, and goes first. Both Characters should declare their actions now. Nat will Shoot Val, and Val will Dodge.

ATTACK
There are three different types of Attack rolls. The type of attack determines which one to use.
Firearms: Roll Dex + Firearms with the difficulty of the weapon.
Melee: Roll Dex + Melee with the diffuculty of the weapon.
Hand to Hand: Roll Dex + Brawl with the difficulty of the manuver.

Example Cont.: Nat attacks Val with the firearm. Nat's Dex is 2 and her firearms 3, so she rolls 5 dice. Nat uses a Glock-17, with a difficulty of 7 for that weapon. Nat rolls the automated dice, and gets 3 successes.

DODGE
Dodge = Dex + Dodge with a base difficulty of 6, plus one for every opponent after the first.

Example Cont.: Val has opted to dodge. His Dex is 3 and his dodge is 2. Therefore he rolls 5 dice with the standard difficulty of a 6 for dodge. Val rolls a 2. His two successes at dodging are subtracted from Nat's successes. Therefore, Nat gets a net success of 1 for the shot.

DAMAGE
Each weapon or attack allows the wielder to roll a certain number of dice in order to cause damage (difficulty of 6). Each success means the target loses one health level. Additionally, each success made with a firearm (after any dodge) adds one die to this damage roll. Melee and brawling successes do not add to the damage. However, each point of potence a character possesses adds one automatic success to melee and brawling damage.

Example Cont.: Nat rolled one success to hit Val, so she now will roll Damage Dice. Her pistol, a Glock-17, does a Damage of 4, plus she gets to roll one extra die for her Success roll, so she rolls 5 die to damage, with a difficulty of 6. Nat rolls the automated dice, and gets a 3. This represents three health levels lost for Val, but he still gets to SOAK.

SOAKING DAMAGE
A character who has been damaged by a weapon can make a roll to see how much damage he "soaks up" due to his natural hardiness. The character rolls Stamina + Fortitude with a difficulty of 6. Every success reduces the damage by one. Damage and soak rolls are the only rolls in WoD that cannot be botched.

Example Cont.: Val was hit for 3 health levels of Damage. But he gets to soak. His Stamina is 2, and he has no fortitude, as he is a simple human like everybody else. Val rolls the automated dice and gets a 1. He 'soaks' one level of damage, therefore he takes two health levels of damage.

HEALTH LEVELS
Health levels are a measure of how hale and hearty a character is. there are various levels of injury, and each applies a different penalty to the person who has been inujured. A character who is hurt (-1), would have one less die to roll on all his or her rolls, while a character who is cripples (-5) would have five less dice to roll. If that leaves the player with no dice to roll, then the character cannot take that action.

Bruised- No action penalties.
Hurt- Mildly hurt, movement not hindered.(-1)
Injured- Minor Injuries, little hindrance to movement.(-1)
Wounded- Cannot run, but can still walk (-2)
Mauled- Badly injured, can only hobble about (-2)
Crippled- Severely injured, can only crawl (-5)
Incapacitated- Completely incapable of movement.